The union origins of the mythical Nenuco colony

One of the shady streets that meet Avinyó Street in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter is Carrer de n'Arai. It's not very long and only houses a souvenir shop, a couple of tapas bars, a franchise of a Greek restaurant and a pet supply store. But in 1946, the scene was different. It was in this part of the city that one of the most recognizable fragrances in the world of cosmetics was made, Nenuco cologne. Behind the master formula was Ramon Horta, an industrial engineer from the city, a member of the UGT and who during the Civil War was named director general of the War Industry of the Generalitat of the time. Until 1968, when he died, he made the elixir almost by hand. He didn't make a fortune, but the little bottles of Nenuco allowed him to live well.

From then on, the business fell to one of the founder's brothers. He invested heavily and modernised the company. First with a factory in Sant Feliu de Guíxols. Sales grew like wildfire. His son, Miquel Horta, who had studied chemistry, joined the brand's laboratory. "As a child, while my father was locked up at home making the first cologne for children, I was out on the street and greeting everyone in the neighbourhood," explains Horta in an excellent chronicle by Xavier Moret in The Country. "He invented the formula and the label, and many families in the neighbourhood made a living filling its containers," he also says. But how did the colony become so deeply rooted in the imagination of families across Spain?

The power of smell

"Nenuco reminds me of the smell of when I was little: it was the cologne my mother used to wear on me and my sisters," recalls Carolina Luis-Bassa, director of the marketing master's degree at the UPF-Barcelona School of Management. "When I had children, I used them too," she confesses. This is the case for many families across Spain. The key to the success of Nenuco cologne is the power of neuromarketing. "Smell is a powerful reminder of special moments and is the best prescriber of products," says the expert. "Nenuco has managed to become part of the aromatic heritage of many families, connecting them with fond memories," she continues. According to her, this has been essential to recounting the passing of Nenuco from generation to generation. "When my children smell it, they tell me that it transports them home," she says.

Since 1946, its fragrance has remained practically intact, but the packaging and the story of the product have been adapted to the new times. "The case of Nenuco is a very clear example of how a brand can stay at the forefront of the market for decades, playing with nostalgia but without ceasing to innovate," says the expert. For her, it is an essential product to understand how emotional marketing works: evoking past moments and sensations through advertising. Another successful point she sees is the distribution of the bottles. "They can be found both in supermarkets and pharmacies, places of trust for families," she says.

The sale of Nenuco

However, Nenuco's real leap forward came in 1989, when the family that controlled Nenuco SA sold the business to Reckipp and Colman, one of the most important British groups in the children's perfume and cosmetics sector. When the change of hands took place, Nenuco controlled the sector with an iron fist, had a workforce of 169 workers and had expanded its product portfolio to include liquid soaps and sun creams, for example. In the first year after the change of hands, the Barcelona brand increased its turnover to around 14.5 million euros. "Since then, the brand has not stopped renewing itself with advertising campaigns that highlight values such as shared responsibility in parenting," says Luis Bassa.

Today, Nenuco continues to be marketed by this group, along with brands such as Finish and Calgon cleaning products and Durex condoms. Last year, up to September alone, the British giant had already generated 12.75 billion euros worldwide.